Railway cross-tie



' J. T-E

Inve 7%03 T NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN TEMPLE AND JAMEs oLooNIN WARD, OF WILSONBURG, WEsT VIRGINIA.

RAILWAY CROSS-TIE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 517,369, dated March 27, 1894.

Application filed December 2, 1893- Serittl No. 492,634" (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, JOHN TEMPLE and JAMES CLOQNIN WARD, citizens of the United States, residing at Wilsonburg, in the county of Harrison and State of West Virginia, have lnvented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Cross-Ties; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

ThlS lnvention has relation to an improvement in metallic railway cross ties, and is deslgned more particularly for use in 'coal mines and such places where a solid roadbed can be obtained.

The invention and its advantages will be fully understood from the following description and claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l, is a cross sectional view of a pair of rails, showing the same applied to our im-' proved tie, and Fig. 2, is a sectional detail vlew of a pair of rails illustrating a pair of our ties in position.

Referring by letter to said drawings:-A, Indicates the tie; B, the rails; and O, the wedges or blocks. In coal mines and such places it is desirable to use wooden rails so 7 1n the present illustration of our invention we have shown the rails as formed of wood and of a rectangular form in cross section,

although it is obvious that other material may be used and the configuration of the rails may be changed according to the fancy of the maker. The cross tie, for the sake of oheapness, may be made of iron, although in some cases it may be desirable to make it of steel or an alloy of metals.

In the manufacture of the tie, we take a bar of iron, or other metal, which is here shown as of rectangular form in cross section, and after cutting the same to the desired length, we raiseit in the center fora sufficient distance in its length as shown at a, and this raised or elevated central portion should be sufficiently long to extend from the inner side of one rail to the inner side of the other, as shown, leaving a recess or depression 1),

length.

beneath. The bar is then depressed, sunk, or bent downwardly, so as to form a rail seat or chair 0, at opposite ends of the central raised or elevated portion a, and these chairs or rail seats may be of a depth equal to the thickness of the tie, and are preferably of an tie are carried upwardly as shown at d, and g to a height approximately to or corresponding with the height of the rails B. The seats or recesses c, are of a width considerably greater than the width of the rails, so as to permit the insertion of wedges 0, between the sides of the rails and the vertical walls of the chairs or seats. By this means, the rails after being placed in the recesses or seats, can be wedged up and the desired gage obtained.

-With a cross tie of this construction, we are enabled to dispense with the use of spikes or other fastening devices, as in placing the ties, it is simply necessary to cut a recess in the roadbed to receive the depressed seats, bringing the under side b, of the central elevated portion a, to bear firmly and snugly upon the bed, so it will be seen that the ties throughout their length will have a firm and substantial bearing, and when the wedges have been applied, the rails'will be secured in a firm and substantial manner, and we attach importance to the fact that the rails are so formed and constructed as to obtain this firm and steady bearing throughout its Having described our invention, what we claim is- 1. A railway tie formed from a bar of metal and having the raised intermediate portion a, adapted to bear upon the surface of the road bed, the depressed rail chairs or seats at the ends of the intermediate portion adapted to be sunk in the road bed, and the vertical terminal ends d, extending above the plane of the intermediate portion a; the whole tie being adapted to rest firmly in and upon the rails, substantially as and for the purpose set to road bed, substantially as specified. forth.

2. The herein described railway cross bar In testimony whereof we affix oursignatures formed from a single bar of metal and having in presence of two Witnesses.

5 the raised intermediate portion a, adapted to JOHN TEMPLE.

bear upon the surface of the road bed, and JAMES CLOONIN WARD. the angular, depressed rail chairs or seats at Witnesses: the ends of the intermediate portion adapted WILLIAM FRANCIS,

to be sunk in the road bed and receive the M. J. FRANCIS. 

